Brittney Griner is more than a WNBA star. That’s what makes her Russian detention so precarious. | Jenice Armstrong

I normally don’t ask readers to pray.

But I’m a believer, and I can’t think of what else the average person can do right now to help WNBA star Brittney Griner besides that. She is in big trouble and needs some good energy shared on her behalf right about now.

Russian authorities at a Moscow airport took the two-time Olympic gold medal winner into custody last month after a search of her luggage allegedly revealed hashish oil inside vape cartridges. If true, that was a bad decision. But before you judge Griner, remember, we only have Russia’s version of events.

But whatever happened inside that airport, the timing was dreadful, considering the State Department’s directives instructing Americans to leave Russia. But that doesn’t make the seven-time All-Star a war criminal, nor does she deserve to be treated like one. Yet, she’s potentially in danger of being used as a pawn by Russia, which has launched a major offensive in an attempt to seize control of Ukraine.

I’d call this the stuff of nightmares, but those dreams don’t last as long as this has. Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, is believed to have been taken into captivity sometime in February, but video of the alleged incident only surfaced recently, as has a mug shot of her which was reportedly taken at a Russian police station.

» READ MORE: Brittney Griner's wife thanks fans for support after arrest

We don’t know how she’s holding up or what kind of conditions she’s being held in. Russia, which decriminalized homosexual relationships in 1993, isn’t known for being hospitable to gay and lesbian people; same thing with those of African descent like Griner.

Don’t let your elected officials forget she’s over there. Stay on them to ensure that they are doing everything possible to secure her release. There’s so much going on right now.

“Because Brittney Griner is a Black gay woman. Everyone must ask themselves every single what-if here: What if she were male, white, not queer, not outspoken on injustices, etc. It’s absolutely outrageous and direct evidence that society/media/power do not value Black, queer, female human beings,” Helen L. “Nellie” Fitzpatrick, a Philadelphia-based attorney, told me in an interview. “She was going to Russia in the first place because of that same exact problem.”

Griner played in Russia for the last seven years, earning over $1 million per season, which is more than quadruple what she earns in the WNBA — and a tiny fraction of what a male star basketball player would earn. Russia is a popular destination for WNBA players looking to augment their earnings.

Fitzpatrick, a former head of Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs, said she was concerned that race might be one reason why Griner’s case wasn’t receiving the same type of attention, advocacy, and outrage as a white athlete under the same circumstances. “That,” Fitzpatrick said, “is downright unacceptable.”

I don’t follow the WNBA, but as an African American woman, I can’t help but empathize with Griner’s struggle. Please don’t email me about Griner’s previous league suspensions because of domestic violence, or anything else. I don’t want to hear about how you don’t agree with her views on the playing of the national anthem before WNBA games, or about how dumb you think she was to try and smuggle drugs into Russia, if indeed that’s what she did. That’s not helpful. Griner is an American citizen — and she is desperately in need of her country’s help right now.

I am glad that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas), who represents Houston, where Griner is from, is on the case. She won’t let her congressional colleagues forget Griner. But we shouldn’t fool ourselves. Rep. John Garamendi of California, a member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, told CNN, “It’s going to be very difficult” to get Griner out of Russia. “Our diplomatic relationships with Russia are nonexistent at the moment,” he said.

This may take some time to unfold.

Meanwhile, Philly’s own Dawn Staley, the head coach for the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team, wrote on Twitter, “I can’t stop thinking about and praying for Brittney Griner. My prayer is for her to find the perfect peace and strength to get thru each day ... and a special prayer for those who are working for her immediate release. Please keep them lifted in prayer until she’s stateside.”

I’m praying. I hope you will as well. Besides leaning on our elected officials in Washington, D.C., there’s not much else that we can do.